Giant-winged black vulture population on rise in Kars
initiated by KuzeyDoğa Association officials to reidentify the presence of black vultures, first seen in the Sarıkamış region of Kars in eastern Türkiye, covered with pine forests, in 2018 and surviving by eating carcasses in nature, continues.
Teams have identified four vulture nests in the pine forests over the past five years. Black vultures, which began to breed in Sarıkamış, do not leave the region in summer or winter.
Emrah Çoban, the science coordinator of KuzeyDoğa Association, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they conduct research in the forests of Sarıkamış year-round and acquire new information every day.
Stating that vultures, which have started to breed in Sarıkamış, are frequently seen in the region, Çoban said: “The population of black vultures has been increasing in Sarıkamış over the past five years. One of the best indicators of this was the identification of four different nests in our studies as KuzeyDoğa Association,” he said.
“Of course, having nests in Sarıkamış actually leads to them being seen more in the region. The vultures we see in the footage are black vultures that have rested near Sarıkamış.”
Çoban stated that vultures quickly remove dead animals. “Vultures have important characteristics in nature, one of which is being nature’s scavengers, that is, by eating dead animals in nature, they ensure that the ecosystem is healthier and enable us to live healthier in nature as well,” he explained.
Çoban stated that black vultures are a special species due to their flight characteristics. “Black vultures are actually the bird with the largest wingspan in Türkiye because they have a wingspan of almost 3 meters (9.84 feet). Thanks to this wingspan, they travel nearly 500 kilometers (310.69 miles) a day. While doing this, they help clean nature by finding dead animals in the region without spending any extra energy.”
“Black vultures are among the species that do not migrate, only some of their young migrate. Black vultures inhabit in Sarıkamış in summer and winter.”